The Low-Ball That Was Too Low

"I really didn't know how to quantify my value or price my services then," Ckonjevic says. "I wish I'd known at the time that money wasn't an issue for them! I put about seven days of work into that job and ended up making $25 per hour." At least it was a lesson learned: Ckonjevic soon upgraded his rate structure. To determine his rate, Ckonjevic researched what other consultants were charging -- independents like himself and big national firms like Arthur Andersen and Deloitte & Touche -- and then decided on a price between the industry extremes.